With the government deciding to limit the number of subsidised LPG cylinders to six/year, a move that will lead to a spike in fuel cost for the aam admi, here are practical ways to soften the impact on your monthly budget.
1. Wipe utensils dry before placing them on the burner. A minute or two of gas that will be needed to evaporate excess water can be saved. Added together the saving would be substantial.
2. Before commencing actual cooking, prepare and collect all raw materials that would be needed. Chop vegetables and keep spices ready at hand to avoid wasting time once the flame is lit up.
3. Thaw frozen foods before cooking, the heat energy that would be needed to bring down the food's temperature to room temperature can be saved.
4. Once the cookware gets sufficiently heated up, put the burner on medium or slow mode as the amount of heat required to cook is less than what is need to keep it up heated at high temperature. Also, food cooked on low flame tends to have better nutritional value.
5. Avoid open vessel cooking as far as possible, a lid on the vessel ensures that the energy is used more efficiently there by leading to huge savings.
6. Cook using pressure cooker as it consumes less time and energy.
7. Don’t use too much water while cooking as evaporating off the excess water will mean more use of LPG.
8. Those who own a microwave but are averse to use it for cooking Indian dishes, they can go for the hybrid model. Use the microwave to semi cook vegetables/meat and then transfer it to a pan on the burner. This way cooking is faster without the use of LPG.
9. If water needs to be boiled for beverages multiple times a day, use a thermos bottle instead.
10. Check the regulator, pipes, burner for leaks and also ensure that regulator is switched off after cooking to eliminate any chance of wastage due to small leaks.
Compiled by Ajith Vijay Kumar